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These are the latest updates(click to close)

12/21/2018: We recently learned that former Bohannon teacher Maudie Ratliff passed away last summer (2018) one day shy of her 90th birthday..

12/21/2018: We also recently learned that former Bohannon teacher E Wayne Phillips passed away last summer (2018) at the age of 94..

5/21/2018: A recent meeting (May 5, 2018) between former teacher Paul Toops and former student Gregory Trachta (page 128.html)

3/2/2018: Added information about former teachers Josie Cole, Edith Cole, S. B. McCollum, H. B. Wheeler, Margaret Williams, and Iva Shale (page 121.html).

3/2/2018: Additional thoughts from former teacher Paul Toops about that mysterious TV appearance. (page 128.html)

3/2/2018: Paul Toops provides names of students from 1953 (pages 126.html and 128.html).

3/2/2018: Ruth Masten provides additional teacher and student names (not yet fully updated).

4/1/2026: Tim Maresh provides family picture and information.

5/16/2026: Former student John Butkovich makes contact and provides some new memories for the 1950-51 period.

In the 1940s and 1950s Bohannon School was one of many one-room, rural schools in Macon County, Missouri. It was located about seven miles south of Anabel, an hour west of Hannibal, on the south side of what is now called Mahogany Street. At that time local lore held it was named for the donor of the land on which it was located. By the 1960s, all of Macon County's rural schools had ceased operation.

The school was across the street from the Manley Graves place, on a dirt road, about a mile east of the gravel road between Anabel and Woodville. Manley Graves' old barn was the only remaining structure from that era, the last time we went by in 2005. The schoolyard is now farmland, all traces of its former use obliterated. Schoolhouse, coal shed, outhouses, water well, and playground equipment are all gone. We're capturing some memories of Bohannon school before they too disappear.

The picture above was probably made in the spring of 1913. When the Trachta children, authors of this web site, attended Bohannon School in the late 1940s and early 1950s, it was customary for itinerant photographers to memorialize school terms. Each student could purchase group portraits and a batch of personal ones to give to family or exchange with friends. This picture is probably from a similar event in 1913.

If the pictured building is the same one the Trachta children attended, then it views the back of the schoolhouse, facing east. Manley and Ethel Graves would one day live in the Simon Maupin house (see plat map below), off-frame to the left, and the Trachta's future home, then owned by the Bohannon family, lay a quarter mile forward, down the hill.

On these pages, we're capturing available history and recollections of the Bohannon School, and its students. It closed at the end of the 1950s, but one of the teachers, and many of the students, are still with us as of 2026. We're soliciting Bohannon School information. If you have such memories or stories please share them. The educational pioneering of early-twentieth century, rural America is worth preserving. If you would like to contriubte, send your stories and pictures via the email link in the upper right corner.

The above linked 1897 atlas of Middle Fork Township, Macon County, Missouri, shows the school at the same location it occupied the 1940s and 1950s. It gives us the names of landowners in the area, and you will notice many of the surnames of students in the 1913 picture.

In 1947 the Trachta family moved into a house on what was then the Mary Jeter place. Lee Graves, known to all as Uncle Lee, was still living in the house on the corner, one mile to the west. W. P. Walker's grandson, Owen, was living on his grandfather's place with our classmates, Larry and Latrelle Walker. Irvin Ruefner, father of several classmates, lived on the Frank Dean place of 1897. Everett Phillips, father of classmate Lillie Jean, lived on the Mrs. R. A. Bohannon place.

Other students in the 40s and 50s included the Wray children, who lived a mile west on the former Mary Reynolds place. The Kasbeck family lived somewhere around the D. Wilson place. The Hoffmans lived up toward the Walkers. Victor and John Butkovich lived on the 1897 D. Wilson place. There were many others.

Everyone walked to school, of course, except during the famous ice storm of 1949, when some put on ice skates to navigate the heavily sleeted dirt roads. I don't recall anyone riding a horse by the enlightened era of 1947, but I believe a few arrived by tractor when the dirt road had turned to that sticky, agglutinative mud for which some believe Missouri is named.

In 1897, the school was located on the property of Thomas Bohannon. East of it is the parcel containing the future Trachta home site, owned by Mary E. Jeter, and to the east of that is a 60 acre parcel owned by John Bohannon, and to the south is 50 acres owned by Mrs. R. A. Bohannon. Mary Jeter, Thomas Bohannon and Charles Bohannon are children of Green Bohannon, who passed away in 1892. We haven't identified Mrs. R. A. Bohannon, but she might have been the widow of Robert Bohannon, Green Bohannon's brother. These associations add credence to the local lore about the namesake of Bohannon School. The story is further bolstered by an article in the Macon Chronicle-Herald of August 28, 1897, that says the school was named for the Bohannon family, early settlers in the area. It is believed the land on which the school stood was eventually donated, or loaned, to the School District by Everett Phillips' father, Henry Phillips.

As a further note, it's worth mentioning that Lee Graves' house had been abandoned by 1996, but was still standing (see picture at right). It has since disappeared.

The Trachta house was located on the Mary E. Jeter property, about a quarter mile east of the school. It is not noted on the map, probably indicating it was built after 1897. The Trachta farm included the parcels owned in 1897 by Mary Jeter, and John Bohannon, plus the east half of the Mrs. R. A. Bohannon property. The house indicated on Thomas Bohannon's place was gone by the late 1940s, but there was evidence of a homesite at that location, including discarded household effects, some purposely arranged cherry trees, and a couple of crab apple trees. The Mrs. R. A. Bohannon house of 1897 is also located on the future Trachta farm. It too was gone by that time, over fifty years later, but dishes, a paring knife, and other artifacts were found in that and other areas.

The Macon County Historical Society, and in particular Merlyn Amidei, and Ruth Masten, provided much of the information on this site, including the above class picture, and copies of school handbooks appearing on subsequent pages. Many of the photographs on this site are from the personal collections of the Trachta family. We hope to hear from others, students, teachers, and neighbors, willing to share their memories and pictures.

On subsequent pages, you will find the available information about teachers, and the year(s) they taught. When available, selected pages of school district handbooks have been scanned and presented. These tell us the names of teachers, and some of the students. We have included some stories and reminiscences from the Trachta family, and will present others as they become available.

Lee Graves, widely known as Uncle Lee in the 1950s, lived in the house pictured at right, and was often seen sitting on the front porch. He was reputed to have an unhealed war wound, apparently from the Spanish American War, and was universally known and respected in the neighborhood. We've found no military record for him, and the unhealed wound was perhaps from a farming accident. He passed away a few years after the Trachta family left the area. He seemed to own a large acreage, which was farmed on a rental or shares basis by his neighbors. Irvin Ruefner farmed a good bit of it in the early 1950s.

We should mention that some of the old Missouri rurual schools have been preserved. At left is the story of one, the Nickellton School, in north Macon County, Missouri, saved for our time by a former student, Willie Borron.

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